John Mayer starts off season at Tuscaloosa Amphitheater

Friday

Apr 26, 2013 at 12:01 AM

A lovely cool evening graced opening night for the 2013 Tuscaloosa Amphitheater season, with headliner John Mayer drawing the venue’s biggest sales numbers to date, for a drop count (actual numbers who came through the gates) of 6,670. Opening act St. Paul and the Broken Bones seems about one buzz interview or TV appearance away from being this year’s Alabama Shakes-style success story.

By Mark Hughes CobbStaff Writer

A lovely cool evening graced opening night for the 2013 Tuscaloosa Amphitheater season, with headliner John Mayer drawing the venue’s biggest sales numbers to date, for a drop count (actual numbers who came through the gates) of 6,670.Opening act St. Paul and the Broken Bones seems about one buzz interview or TV appearance away from being this year’s Alabama Shakes-style success story. The Birmingham-based group has an even bigger sound than the Shakes thanks to its three-piece horn section; singer Paul Janeway, dressed like a ’50s high-school history teacher on a date, belts old-school soul like a hellfire-and-brimstone preacher converted to rock ‘n’ roll. Should Janeway ever duet with the Shakes’ Brittany Howard, the resulting fireworks could raise the dead, and set them dancing.Following the opening act’s tight 45-minute set, Mayer presented an immediate contrast, shambling out in jeans and a crumpled Stetson hat, opening with a moody, rambling version of “Queen of California” from his 2012 “Born and Raised” disc. He started the song on acoustic guitar, then switched over to a Stratocaster for more biting electric solos as intensity lifted.“It’s really good to be back on stage,” he said, making quick reference to the tour canceled last year, including a planned April 2012 date here, after a throat granuloma he’d suffered from returned. Six months prior to cancellation, he’d been put on vocal rest. Aside from an appearance last week at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, this night marked Mayer’s first public performance in about three years.His voice sounded returned to normal on that and “Something like Olivia,” another mid-tempo pop song from “Born and Raised.” A slightly speedier “Who Says?” followed, pulling a twang both from his voice and the Telecaster he picked up. Although many of the heavily young, female crowd probably were first drawn to Mayer for his pop hits such as “Your Body is a Wonderland,” “Daughters” and “Waiting on the World to Change,” off his early multi-platinum studio albums “Room for Squares” and “Heavier Things,” the Connecticut-born musician has long credited the Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) guitar solo in “Back to the Future” with stirring his interest in the instrument. Although the commercial pop brought him to prominence — and possibly his Johnny Depp-ish looks — Mayer has become a serious student of the guitar, working with blues legends such as Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and B.B. King, to hone his chops. The bulk of his set held more for the guitar-slinger fans than for those of the radio hits, as Mayer worked out on a variety of soulful riffs, sharing with a tight backing band (sadly, Tuscaloosa’s Chuck Leavell was not among them, as he would have been last year; the pianist got a call from The Rolling Stones that took precedence). Most of those earliest song choices derived from “Born and Raised,” although some of the more extended jams came on classic such as Preston Foster’s “Got My Mojo Working,” made famous by Muddy Waters, and Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My Way Home.” Patter was generally kept to a minimum, partly because, as Mayer explained, he’d watched videos of earlier shows and seen what seemed to be long rambling introductions; There would be like 3 minutes and 22 seconds before the music starts, he said.“I love you, and I’m thinking about you,” he told the crowd. “It’s just that I’m way too excited to play these songs for you.”Launching into “Age of Worry,” he spoke again: “I did mention that I love you, correct?”Another extended jam centered around the traditional folk-blues “Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad,” brought to prominence by the Grateful Dead, and Delaney Bramlett before that. It kicked off at a driving-song rumble before dropping back to a more contemplative spotlight for Mayer’s picking. He switched axes frequently through the night, but returned often to one bruised-looking, well-worn Strat.Perhaps noticing the audience’s attention waning, Mayer spoke up about how he hoped the night would be less about certain songs that might or might not be recognizable, and more about seeking a feeling, suggesting he might “maybe shut down the analytical mind for a minute.”“I’ve been waiting a very, very long time to get on stage and show this idea,” he said, “have it less about me, and more about us.”It was 10 p.m. before he played what could be called a recognizable hit, “Waiting on the World to Change,” a nicely timed offering, although it was impossible to miss the point that he wrapped it up in just about three minutes, as opposed to doubled-by-jams less-known songs.After a short break, Mayer came back out to play solo acoustic, asking the crowd to help sing along on the high chorus notes of “Why Georgia,” off his debut “Room for Squares.” The band filtered back in on “Whiskey Whiskey Whiskey.”As the night wore on, Mayer grew more visibly animated and voluble, although he didn’t waver from the formula of stretching out new songs, working by feel. As the show finished, just after 10:30, some fans might have felt the absence of hits such as “Wonderland” and “Daughters.”

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